Under The Sky
by Y2Jen
Summary: Set in the early 90s, Chris Jericho and Lance Storm travel North America to fulfil their dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Now broke and sidelined by car and weather troubles in a small Ohio town, Chris runs into an old friend from his past. R


A/N: _For a while now I've been wanting to write a story about Jericho and Benoit about them being younger and on their journey to becoming great wrestlers, but, because of, well, yeah. Anyway. I also kinda wanted to do one with Lance Storm too. So, here it is yeas later, I get the writing bug back and now I finally begin. I have very little free time with work and other prior commitments, but if you like this, I will definitely find some spare time on the weekends to write some more of this. So here it is, chapter one, enjoy._

**May, 1992.**

**Lance Storm, 23.  
Chris Jericho, 21.**

**A small town in Ohio.**

Chris Jericho and Lance Storm were the best of friends, mainly due to the fact that they had so much in common. They were both of similar build, they were both about the same age, they were both Canadian, but most importantly of all, they both dreamed of becoming professional wrestlers. The two met in wrestling school and became fast friends, closer than most brothers. They were living their dream together, traveling Canada and the US in order to get closer to achieving that dream. They learned together, grew together, laughed together, cried together, at together, well, you get the idea. They fought with each other as well. But when in the ring, they also became partners and formed the tag team of The Thrillseekers. That was in Smokey Mountain Wrestling, something the duo had no left in a chapter of their past as they moved forward into their next adventure. Today we find the duo taking it easy for a change…

"Chris, you are a pig."

"Takes one to know one."

"How indecent."

"Now that was uncalled for."

"How did you get to be so rude?"

"I learned from the master."

"UGH, you are exhausting."

"Likewise."

Well, it may sound like an argument, but it's just another good natured ribbing between two best friends.

"You left me with the bill, you twice as much as me, you bottomless pit. You pay it!"

"You lost the bet, no backing out."

Well, okay, maybe not this time.

"Are you calling me a cheat?"

"Are you calling me cheap?"

"Yes!"

"Well then double yes for me."

"Why you… you… shrimp!"

"What did you say…" That was the line. Chris stood up growling in his chest.

"Alright, I'm sorry about that but…"

"Big blockhead!"

"Now that was inappropriate!" Lance jumped to his feet, matching Chris across the table.

"So are we all set here?" The waitress came up to collect the bill.

"Come back later!" The duo snapped back at her. She decided to take them up on that offer and backed away. Chris and Lance returned to their stare down.

"Fair is fair." Chris snarled.

"But you didn't play fair, plus you ate more. Be reasonable!" Lance snorted back.

"I am reasonable."

"You're insane!"

"Want to arm wrestle?" Chris rolled up his sleeve.

"That's how I lost the bet in the first place."

"Then how about a rematch?"

"Feh, thought you'd never ask." Lance rolled up his own sleeve, unable to resist a challenge. They locked hands, clenched into tight, white knuckled fists. "I won't lose this time."

"Hey, I'd put my money where my mouth is, but, I'm broke."

"What?" Lance gasped and Chris slammed his hand. "Hey…!"

"Yes, I win, again! Ah ha!"

"No fair, I wasn't ready!"

"Oh no matter, you would've just lost again anyway."

"Would not."

"Would too."

"Chris…" Lance let out a sigh.

"Would so, oh, I mean, what…?" Chris looked over at his friend who didn't reply back right away, instead he quickly leaned over the table and grabbed Chris's wallet from his pocket. "Hey, what the hell….!" Chris reached over to try and grab it back but Lance held him back with one hand while opening the wallet with the other. "No fair!"

"Fair's fair." Lance was so preoccupied with holding Chris back and opening the wallet that he didn't realize he let his guard down until Chris reached and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "What, hey no stop!"

"Aha!" Chris laughed and opened it. "Money."

Lance threw down Chris's wallet on the table, "Cheater."

Chris just stuck out his tongue as he pulled out the cash and placed it on the bill tray, he was about to throw it back but paused, "Hey wait a sec, what is this…"

"Give it…!" Lance tried to grab but Chris jumped back.

He started to laugh, "What in the hell… Lance why do you have this picture in your wallet?" Chris pointed it Lance's face. The picture in question was of Chris sitting outside on the porch at Lance's house, wearing an apron and a frown as he held a vegetable peeler in one hand and a poorly botched carrot, or what was left of it, in the other hand. "You said you destroyed the picture, you liar!"

"It holds a special place in my heart." Lance grinned like a cheshire cat. That was the one time Lance had actually won a betting contest against Chris, so it was indeed special. Chris had to prepare dinner for Lance in lieu of losing. Chris could clean and fix things and do most any house chore quickly with ease, but he was a poor cook, at best. The stew had a very thin, watery, bland gravy, the meat was either burnt or undercooked, the vegetables were small and tough, and it made everybody sick. "Well at least you got the sickest, puke face."

"I resent that." Chris barked quietly and threw the wallet down for Lance to take back. "You know, most people keep pictures of family and loved ones in there."

"Well what about yours." Lance opened Chris's wallet.

"Hey no, wait…!"

"Aww, look at this." Lance snickered. It was a small girl with dark hair sitting in a makeshift wrestling ring that had green hoses as the ring ropes. "Your girlfriend Chris? You pervert!"

"Shut up!" Chris snatched the wallet back and quickly put it back in his pocket.

"Aww, your first biggest fan. Well I do carry you in most matches, and your weight is the lions share. That being said, you owe me lunch now for that big bill you made me pay today."

"Whatever." Chris pouted. Lance couldn't help but smile.

So with the bill paid and the fighting at rest, the two headed back to the motel. It was late and they needed rest of their own. They were on a quest and they couldn't stop now, there was no turning back and no giving up. With SMW in the past, they needed a new independent to work for if they wanted to fill their wallets for the next meal. There were a few out there they were looking into, but so far none turned out to be too reputable or financially promising. But that was the case with most companies in their career choice. All they could do was keep searching. They didn't want to go back to Canada though, it would've been as if they were giving up, calling it quits and heading home a failure. That was one thing they agreed on, they could not go back home, they could not quit on their dream. They would go to Mexico, Japan, Europe, and beyond, just to become a good enough wrestler to get into a big company like the WWF. They were good, they knew they could make it, but they knew they needed more time and training first. And that's what they were out to do. The boys reached the motel and decided to call it a night.

"Good night Chris."

"Night Lance."

"And hey, I'm sorry." Lance sat down on his bed.

"Yeah, I know." Chris pulled up the covers to go to sleep.

"Ahem…"

"Huh, what?" Chris raised his head up.

"And you…?"

Chris smirked and rolled his eyes, "Alright, I'm sorry too. I was out of line."

"Yeah, I know." Lance sneered back. Chris just laughed to himself and lay back down. Lance shook his head to himself. Chris fell asleep quickly, he must've been tired. Lance smiled to himself and let out a sigh, he stood up and walked over to the other bed. Chris was already breathing deeply, out in a dead sleep. "Aww, like a baby." He brushed a few strands of Chris's long blonde hair off of his forehead. After a few seconds of quiet snoring, Chris's thumb popped into his mouth. "Whoa, oh hell no." Lance quickly pulled it out. "I'll have none of that!" Chris grumbled in his sleep and snuggled deeper into the pillow. "Yeah, like a baby alright…."

The next morning…

Lance was usually an early riser, he got up before the sun. By the time he finished up and came out of the bathroom, Chris was usually awake. Today was no different, Lance came out to two empty beds. But Chris was nowhere to be found. Maybe he went to go get some ice or something, or for a walk. Lance stopped himself. Chris on a morning walk? Not likely. He glanced at the clock, it was just after 7 but the window still looked dark. Lance walked over and opened the curtains, it was pouring rain outside. Lance was shocked. He thought the sound he had heard was possibly the air in the vents, but it was actually the rain on the roof. They had come home late last night, it was already dark, so they wouldn't have been able to see any clouds. But there was one thing that Lance did see. Chris. Outside playing in the rain. Lance rolled his eyes and let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his face and headed towards the door.

"Hey Lance, morning!" Chris waved, his long hair sopping wet, sticking to his face and clothes.

"Chris, get in here, it's freezing out."

"Some talk, for a Canadian." Chris stuck out his tongue.

Lance let out a deep breath, trying to remain calm, "You need to change clothes, you're a mess."

"You're just jealous, because I have long hair and a better taste in fashion."

"Chris, you're wearing an old faded Ozzy shirt."

"I rest my case!"

"Chris!" Lance grabbed the rolled up newspaper on the dresser by the door and threw it at him.

"Ow, hey!"

"Now bring that inside, I want to read it." Lance left the doorway and went back inside.

"Jerk." Chris picked it up and went inside. He shook himself off like a dog.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry." Chris smiled to himself, he had done that on purpose."

"Now change and dry off! We need to get to the next town, I heard a lead about another division up there, we should check it out."

"In this weather?" Chris said in a dry tone, mocking Lance.

"Yes even in this weather." Lance sighed.

"Good, cause I love the rain!" Chris got up, throwing the wet newspaper on Lance's bed.

Lance shook his head to himself as Chris went to go clean up, "Like a baby alright…."

After about 15 minutes, they were both ready and checked out, loading their stuff into Lance's car and heading off. There wasn't freeway access in the town to they had to head up a few other small towns in order to get to a large enough area that had an onramp. The rain had gotten worse, it was pounding hard on the car. Another thing that was pounding now was Lance's head, as Chris rocked out to the music coming blasting on the radio station he had changed it to. Lance rolled his eyes and kept going. It wasn't bad, just another normal day, it can't get any worse now…. The car sputtered and jerked to a slow roll, then a stop. Well, never mind.

"What the…." Chris sat up as the radio turned off.

"Oh no…" Lance forced the key. "Come on, don't do this, no…" The car had none of it. Lance sighed, giving up after a few minutes and leaned back in the chair.

"Well, now what…" Chris asked.

"You know what this means right." Lance saw a sign ahead that said it was only a mile to the next town.

"Get out and push? But you hate this weather." Chris gave him a confused stare.

"I know…" Lance smiled.

Chris soon found himself pushing the car from behind, he spat some rain water out of his mouth, shaking the wet hair from his face, "Why you…!"

"Hey, somebody has to drive, somebody has to push. I hate the rain, and you love it." Lance snickered to himself and let out a happy sigh of relief. "I told you I'd get you back."

"Now we're even!" Chris roared.

A half hour later they reached the edge of the town. It was as small, if not smaller, than the one they had just left, and nowhere none closer to a freeway onramp. But it was just as well, with the car in bad shape, they were going nowhere. They stopped at a corner that shared a gas station and a motel, in fact the only of each in said small town. But they were now faced with a dilemma. They didn't have much money left, not enough for an unknown length stay in a motel AND a car repair. They didn't even know what was wrong. They both knew enough about cars that it could be easily fixed on their own, maybe even in a day if it was just something simple, but with the rain getting harder and a cold wind driving it in heavy, they didn't have many options.

"What should we do." Lance sighed to himself as they sat in the car.

"I was just about to ask you that." Chris spoke quietly, usually a joker, he couldn't lighten up this situation. He turned to Lance, "Maybe when the rain stops we can look at it ourselves."

"But how long with the rain last?"

"We could ask somebody, maybe they talked about it on the local news."Chris shrugged.

"Well, with no options, anything, even that simple, is worth a shot." Lance got ready to open the door and make a run for the nearest overhang.

"Never know." Chris smirked. "We may even meet a good samaritan to help us out."

"Eh, now that'd be the day." Lance rolled his eyes and made a dash towards the inn.

Lance reached the in quickly and leaped through the doorway and paused to catch his breath, he was only a little damp and would easily dry off quickly. He was about to step forward but stopped, glancing over his shoulder for his partner. Chris finally arrived behind Lance, ambling in slowly, a smile on his face, hair and clothes soaked once more. Lance looked away and loudly voiced the scowl on his face, he drudged forward, Chris following gleefully after. They reached the reception desk, and Lance had changed his expression back to a somewhat calmer one, which was hard for him to do, especially since Chris was the one to speak first.

"Hey, you got a TV in here?"

"Uh, excuse me…" The young lady was shocked to hear that as her first question, she was taken aback and didn't quite know how to answer that.

"Moron." Lance pushed him back. "Hi miss, I apologize on my friends behalf."

"That's alright." She smiled warmly, at least this one seemed intelligent. "That's quite a storm out there isn't it."

"You can say that again." Lance forced a slight laugh. "Anyway, what I THINK Chris means by his quest for a TV is, have you heard anything on the news about this storm?"

"Huh?"

"See, we're traveling out of town and haven't heard any local reports."

"Oh, well the storm was sudden, it was just going to pass us over and head towards the lakes. But, you know how weather men are."

"THEY are the morons." Chris laughed. Lance elbowed him in the stomach.

"Anyway." The lady blinked but continued. "It could last a few days, maybe until the weekend."

"Alright." Lance sighed, not what he wanted to hear. He paused to think, "Well, we'll be back."

"Okay." The lady nodded the two walked off, leaving her a bit confused behind them.

"So now what, are we staying in here?" Chris asked.

"I don't really know for sure yet. We need to access the situation entirely before making a decision."

"Yawn, boring. So what then?"

"Let's take a look at the car at the gas station, if we can fix it ourselves easily, we won't have to stay here. We shouldn't waste money on an inn if we can keep going. We'll use it for parts and some gas."

"And food, I'm starving!"

"Ugh…" Lance shook his head and shoved Chris out the door and back into the rain.

Under the dry safety of the gas station ceiling, Chris and Lance stood over the open hood of the car. It wasn't long until they figured out what needed fixing, luckily for them it was minor enough that they could do it their selves. They would be able to buy the parts if they could find them, the gas station had a few of the simple basics, but they would need to find an auto parts shop to buy the rest. And, much like the motel and gas station, there was only one in town.

"The weather today is really bad, nobody is out, no place is open. You should wait at the inn until the rain lightens up, maybe tomorrow you'll be luckier." The gas station attendant told them. And he was right too, the parts shop was closed, but the boys would be short on cash if they stayed in the inn that night.

"What should we do?" Chris asked, they were back inside the motel lobby once more, even Chris, the rain lover, was starting to shiver from the cold wind outside.

"I have a thought. We could trade some work for a stay tonight, pay for the parts tomorrow, fix the car and leave town with enough for gas."

"What about…"

"No snacks!" Lance cut Chris off before he could continue.

"Alright, alright." Chris rolled his eyes. "Anyway, hopefully it will work out."

"Well, it's worth a shot." Lance led him back up to the reception desk. "Hi miss, us again."

"Oh, welcome back." She smiled up at them.

"Listen…" Lance sighed. "We're in a bit of a bad situation. The weather is really bad, as you know, but our car broke down outside of town."

"Oh no!"

"We pushed it to the gas station here and were able to buy and fix what we could, but the auto parts store is closed because of the bad weather."

"Yeah, sometimes the smaller shops do that. But the general necessities remain open, like the gas station and grocery store, and here."

"Well, we're really short on cash because of our misfortune. We can't fully pay for a room and buy the parts tomorrow to fix the car and be on our way, and because of the car we can't just fill up the tank and leave town. We're really stuck."

"Wow, that's really bad." She blinked thoughtfully and let out a sigh.

"We were wondering if we could exchange a night stay for some work to cover the cost we can't pay. It's the only other option we could think of."

The lady was quiet for a moment, then her face let up, "You know, because of the storm a lot of people didn't make it in today. If you want, I could ask the manager to exchange some work around here for a night stay. You could clean, freshen the rooms, change the beds and do laundry and stuff like that."

"Perfect!" Chris jumped for joy.

"Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow, so I hope he won't mind just one night." Lance smiled, he was relieved his plan had pulled through and worked so easily.

"I'll be right back." The lady stood up and walked into a back office around the corner.

"Great idea Lance!"

"Thanks, I do tend to have them on occasion."

The lady came back with the manager, "Well we don't have many tenants now because of the weather, so I don't think we should have a problem for just one night."

"We won't make a mess, we'll do a good job, and we won't even eat anything, will we Chris."

"Eh…?" Chris froze. Lance shot him a glare and Chris glanced at the receptionist and manager. He swallowed hard and smiled, "Yeah, we won't even eat. I promise."

"We promise to do a good job!"

"I know you will." The manager smiled. "With business down, the cook isn't very busy, maybe he could give you a list of chores to do this afternoon. You should be done come tonight, so you can rest easy and in the morning we can all figure out what to do next."

"The next step of our game plan is to go to the parts store, fix our car and hit the road. We won't be a bother at all."

"My brother actually owns the parts shop, I could ask him to open it for you tomorrow so that would be of help." The receptionist spoke up.

"That's perfect!" Chris jumped for joy once more.

"This is the best news I've ever heard." Lance was in shock.

"You were right Lance, we're going to be okay, this is awesome!"

"Yeah, we got really, really lucky."

The cook joined the receptionist to go over the list of chores the manager wanted Chris and Lance to do. It included cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, changing the bedding, doing laundry, simple things like that, the boys could do that no problem and took to the tasks with great enthusiasm. They were done by the time night fell, even though it was hard to tell with the dark cloudy sky. But the rain had lightened as it grew later in the day, so tomorrow was looking good.

"Well Lance, tomorrow we'll be back on the road."

"Yeah, I can't wait."

"I'm so happy I don't even care that we didn't eat!"

"I can't believe my plan worked AND that the receptionist is related to the owner of the parts store. Then we'll get some gas and head for the freeway." Lance closed his eyes happily. "Things will always work out of you try your hardest. But a little luck doesn't hurt either."

The next day…

Lance stretched in bed and woke up, it was still early but not as early as he normally rises. There was a little light coming in through the window and his face lit up. He jumped out of bed and rushed over to see white clouds against a blue sky. He let out a deep refreshing breath, he felt lighter than air. Everything was going to be okay now, there was nothing else that could go wrong. He stopped himself right there. He turned around to look at Chris's bed, it was empty and unmade. Lance was confused, it was rare for Chris to ever get up early, no less before himself. The bathroom light was off and the door was open, Chris was nowhere in the room. He heard some talking coming from outside, so he went back to the window and saw Chris speaking with a young man. He opened the window and overheard a bit of the end of the conversation. It was the receptionists brother, the one who worked at the parts shop. He and Chris closed the hood of the car and dusted the grime off of their hands. Lance was in shock, seeing Chris like that, talking and laughing, hard at work doing a job well done, and so early too. Lance didn't think this was real, but he decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. He went to go and change then headed downstairs to the lobby where the parts owner was talking with his sister.

"Hey, Lance!" The receptionist caught a glimpse of him. "Good news, the car is all fixed. It didn't cost as much as we first thought too, plus with Chris helping it got done in half the time."

"It's even full of gas and everything, you really did luck out man." The brother smiled.

"I can't tell you how relieved and grateful I am for you both!" Lance was flooded with so much joy and relief he couldn't believe it. "Chris and I owe you the world." He looked at his watch. "Well, with the weather fair now, I guess it's time we clean up and hit the road."

"Too bad you couldn't stay any longer." The receptionist grinned, Lance couldn't help but detect a slight blush hiding behind her face, that just added to his wonderful day.

"I don't want to be any more of an inconvenience. Besides, I'll bet Chris is tired and hungry." Lance started towards the door with the brother and sister. "Today is going to be a great day, absolutely nothing can go wrong…." Lance reached out to open the door but it opened before he could touch the knob. "Eh…?" He looked up. "Chris?" Chris was standing in the doorway, but something was wrong. "Chris." Lance just blinked, frozen, Chris was pale white. He had dark circles under both eyes, almost as if he'd been punched in each. He opened his lips to speak, but nothing came out but a dry choke, they looked almost purple. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed into a limp heap on the floor before them. "Chris!"

"Oh no!" The receptionist gasped.

"Hey!" Her brother was shocked.

"Chris!" Lance rushed down to help him up but jumped back. "Whoa." He was burning hot, really hot. Something was wrong, really wrong. He had been fine earlier, so it seemed he must've been holding back whatever was in him the whole while. "Whoa man…" What were they going to do now? The car was fixed, but now there was something wrong with Chris. And even worse, now they were flat broke.


End file.
